The spotlight has shone on Australia this week, with Oprah Winfery set to hit Aussie shores sometime in December for 8 days. The ABC online (http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/09/17/3014313.htm?section=entertainment) has published a story titled “Oprah may crash fan’s place” on the 17th September 2010. The article explains what the talk show queen is going to do and where she is going to go and her plans while she is here. Australia is excited, this is Oprah and she is bigger than the Queen (well at least to me) and there have been hundreds of articles published all around the world about her decision to come down under.
The article tells how Oprah there may be a surprise for one of her Aussie fans, where she may decide to “crash’ a fans place. The story has used quotes from Oprah herself explaining that plans for the show are still under wraps but that she is eagerly awaiting her trip.
The article also suggests or shall I say speculates about what Aussie stars may make an appearance in the two shows that she is to film at the Sydney Opera House, but cannot confirm if they will definitely be on. Just that they are on a list.
It also briefly talks about the fact that tourism Australia has spent $3 million to bring Oprah and her 300 fans and 150 staff to Sydney for their trip. But does not really give tourism Australia’s opinion of the decision. Further to this the writer has stated that tourism Australia have been swamped with offers to host the talk show queen, but there has been no source used to back up these claims. It simply states “Tourism officials have been swamped with offers to host the television star - from rainforest and reef resorts to humble homes in outback towns”. Then it goes on to explain that tourism Australia is working closely with Oprah and her production team on their itinerary.
The article isn’t that well written. It only has quotes from Oprah and could have used other sources to give an overall picture of the impact the decision to bring Oprah to Australia will bring for tourism to the country especially considering it opens with Tourism Australia’s bombardment of offers. The writer could have interviewed a fan to get a reaction about Oprah possibly surprising them with a sleepover.
So whilst the article tells us that Oprah’s on her way it doesn’t exactly give away too much about her plans and about Tourism Australia’s role in her itinerary.
Nice critique. Pretty much nothing has been backed up! It would definitely have worked better if it was not so much "one-sided" as you suggested. And who knows, maybe the parts that aren't backed up may have been taken from other websites?
ReplyDeleteBtw, you might be interested in checking this opinion piece where the author is expressing her real dislike for Oprah.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/opinion/she-can-stay-at-our-joint-but-well-turn-off-the-fans/story-e6frfhqf-1225926061865
The issue with online news is it's all about expediency, more so than traditional press. So basically how a lot of articles roll is, they seem to only quote one source, and usually provide one-side of an issue, in the expectation that the other side will be covered in a follow up story. Kind of lazy I'd say. And yeah, the issue here is it seems to be something of a fluff piece, or a piece of conjecture. No one's doubting Oprah's ability to move nations (hahaha) but how does a celebrity going to another country really rank as news? Highly, apparently. The tourism angle is just a means of justifying this.
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